September 18, 2016 · 9:11 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1:Jackson ready to lead Pistons — The Detroit Pistons made several moves this summer in free agency, and will enter this new season with an even younger roster than they had last season. For point guard Reggie Jackson, who is 27, it’s an opportunity to take on a leadership role, as he tells Rod Beard…

While backup center Aron Baynes is the oldest player on the team — he turns 30 in December — the leadership mantle will be spread around, with veterans taking charge for summer workouts.

“That’s kind of how it goes; we have to step up,” said point guard Reggie Jackson, 27, entering his sixth season. “The organization put that upon us and myself to step up this year and be an even more impactful leader and more of a voice of reason and direction for our guys.

“I know I have a little more burden on my shoulders but it’s something I asked for and something I wanted. We’ll figure it out collectively.”

Tolliver had been a mentor for Andre Drummond, and Steve Blake was a veteran voice for the point guards. Anthony Tolliver also was one of the most respected voices in the locker room, but signed as a free agent with the Kings this summer.

It was a unique dynamic having the most veteran and vocal players as reserves. But it worked.

“We did have steady rocks with Joel Anthony, Anthony Tolliver and Steve Blake, who really watched over us,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, they’ve moved on and we have to find a way to get it done.

“Hats off to those guys for everything they taught us. We’re definitely appreciative of it and we’ll definitely use it in the future. They’re a big part of building the culture here. Now it’s time for us to carry the torch.”

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Warriors hoping Varejao can chip in immediately — The Golden State Warriors are hoping the Cleveland Cavaliers’ loss at the trade deadline will be their gain in the long run. The Cavs had to cut fan favorite Anderson Varejao in order to pull off their trade with the Orlando Magic for Channing Frye. Varejao, who was dealt to Portland in the trade and later cut by the Trail Blazers, found a new gig soon as a backup center for the defending-champion Warriors. As Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, Varejao will likely play Wednesday vs. Miami and will have a chance to show he can contribute:

“He’s hard not to like,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s a guy who gives effort multiple times in one possession and competes every second he’s out there.

“With the enthusiasm he plays with, and from what I gather, his personality in the locker room, he’s going to be a fan favorite … just like he was in Cleveland.”

…

The 33-year-old also considered signing with San Antonio after being released by the Trail Blazers and clearing waivers, but he has some strong ties with the Warriors. He played with lead assistant coach Luke Walton, backup point guard Shaun Livingston and reserve big man Marreese Speights in the NBA and with reserve guard Leandro Barbosa on the Brazilian national team.

“I’m glad I came here, because I can tell that they love each other. That’s what it’s about,” Varejao said. “When you want to win, you have to be like they are: friends who have fun out there (on the court) and fun in the locker room.”

…

The Warriors favored Varejao, because he’s a true center. Thompson is a hybrid power forward/center. Backup center Festus Ezeli will be rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee until at least mid-March; starting center Andrew Bogut returned Monday after missing Saturday’s game with a sore right Achilles.

Varejao is similar to Bogut on offense, favoring playmaking over scoring and seemingly being a natural fit in how the Warriors use their centers in dribble handoffs and as the hubs to make passes to backdoor cutters.

Varejao will be given a video playbook and is expected to practice with the team Tuesday. Kerr believes the center’s instincts for the game will help him incorporate quickly.

Because of a bad back, Donatas Motiejunas will be back in Houston.

Yahoo Sports was first to report that physicians and specialists who examined Motiejunas on Monday refused to sign off on his health.

As a result, Motiejunas and guard Marcus Thornton will return to Houston and the Pistons will get back the 2016 first-round draft choice that was surrounded in the deal at the trade deadline on Thursday. In addition, Joel Anthony, who was traded from Detroit to the Rockets and then sent on to Philadelphia for the rights to Nigerian forward Chukwudiebere Maduabum, will return to the Pistons.

After undergoing back surgery late last season that forced him to miss the playoffs, Motiejunas had several setbacks in his recovery and has played only 14 games this season. The last NBA game he played was on Dec. 31 against Golden State, when he had to leave after just six minutes due to soreness in his back. Motiejunas was assigned for rehabilitation with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League on Jan. 30 and played three games there before the All-Star break. He rejoined the Rockets last week and took part in a practice and declared himself 100 percent healthy.

The 25 year old from Lithuania is slated to become a restricted free agent on July 1. The Rockets had regarded the top 8-protected draft pick they were getting from Detroit as a key building block for the offseason.

Motiejunas averaged 12 points and 5.9 rebounds in 2014-15, but just 5.6 points and 2.1 rebounds this season.

The move comes 22 years after the Rockets voided a trade with the Pistons when forward Sean Elliott could not pass a physical. In that case, Robert Horry and Matt Bullard returned to Houston, where later that season they would become members of the first championship team in Rockets franchise history.

February 18, 2016 · 10:28 AM ET

From NBA.com staff reports

One of the busiest days in terms of NBA roster chatter and speculation is here: trade deadline day. As we close in on the 3 p.m. ET deadline for all NBA teams to make trades, we’ll keep you in the know about any rumblings and reported deals as they happen. While you’re keeping up, don’t forget to check out our Trade Tracker and other 2016 Trade Deadline coverage.

Motiejunas has played just 14 games this season dealing with a bad back, but was a big piece off the Rockets’ bench last season. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, Thornton will be unrestricted, and Anthony has a non-guaranteed year left on his contract.

With the pick top-8 protected, the Rockets are likely to get it this year, but it’s value goes down if the Pistons climb the East standings. They currently stand in eighth, but are just two games in the win column out of fifth.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m. ET — The Randy Foye market

Randy Foye has a very tradeable ($3.1 million, expiring) contract, but that doesn’t mean that the Nuggets will trade him…

Several teams in pursuit of Denver guard Randy Foye, but unclear if Nuggets will part with him, league sources tell @TheVertical.

The 22-32 Milwaukee Bucks are a long shot to return to the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they’re not buyers at the deadline…

Sources: As Bucks search for ways to reshape guard depth, they've checked on bringing back 76ers Kendall Marshall. For now, no traction.

Behind Michael Carter-Williams and Khris Middleton, the Bucks have three guards – Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo and Greivis Vasquez – on expiring contracts. Marshall is on a cheap, four-year deal, where the next three seasons are all unguaranteed.

UPDATE, 11:28 a.m. ET — Lawson still in Houston

Sources: Rockets, Jazz had casual talks on Ty Lawson, but those ended. Both teams moved on. Another thing: Rockets won't buy out Lawson.

Pau Gasol believes he won't be traded but said "it's a business. I've been wrong before."

Gasol said "for sure" when asked if Bulls are in lead to re-sign him this summer.

UPDATE, 10:20 a.m. ET — Nets hire Marks

Less than five hours before the trade deadline, the Nets announced that they’ve hired Sean Marks (previously assistant GM in San Antonio) as their new general manager. From the team’s press release…

“After an exhaustive vetting process, we are delighted to have Sean as our General Manager,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said. “His experience on the court, in coaching and management gives him a 360 degree view of the job at hand. His background helping to build one of the greatest teams in the NBA gives him an unparalleled frame of reference. And he impressed us all with his vision, his values, his personality and his enthusiasm for the club. The vote to select him from an incredible list of talent was unanimous. We welcome Sean into our Nets family and look forward to his strong leadership and independent thinking as we build our own success story.”

“I am very excited to be named the General Manager of the Brooklyn Nets, and to become a member of the vibrant and dynamic organization that represents Brooklyn,” Marks said. “I would like to thank Nets’ ownership for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge of creating a unified culture and building a winning team.”

Even if you have no love for owner Mark Cuban or his team, you have to admit it’s cruel and unusual the way they lost DeAndre Jordan.

…

The Mavericks are left to wonder what the heck happened and how they can recover from the franchise-shaking blow of losing a 26-year-old rising star center who was one of the most sought-after free agents this summer.

This could be an event that will rank with Roy Tarpley’s drug suspension as the darkest days in franchise history.

It could impact everybody from coach Rick Carlisle to franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki and all in between.

In the short term, the Mavericks have to find somebody to play center and the options are limited. The Indiana Pacers could be willing to listen to trade offers for 7-2 Roy Hibbert, but they already had a tentative deal sending Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers. And Hibbert is coming off a lackluster 2014-15 season.

The option exists to make a run at Amar’e Stoudemire, too. The Mavericks suddenly have about $20 million more than they expected to have to fill out their roster.

Players like Washington’s Kevin Seraphin are still on the board. He’s a five-year veteran who is 6-9 and 260 pounds but averaged just 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game this season. Seraphin, 25, is not considered a strong rebounder.

Clearly, the Mavericks are not going to find anybody on the open market that can rival Jordan.

What they also must wonder now is whether or not the upcoming season can be salvaged without a dip into the lottery, which would be a bitter pill to owner Mark Cuban and a dangerous move since the Mavericks’ 2016 first-round draft pick will go to Boston in the Rajon Rondo deal unless it is among the top seven in the lottery.

Last week after getting the original commitment from Jordan, Cuban said that if the Mavericks had lost out on Jordan, they would have been forced to consider the unsavory prospect of tanking a season – “have our David Robinson season,” Cuban called it. It would take a major dive into the lottery, finishing with at least the fourth-worst record in the league, to guarantee the Mavericks wouldn’t lose their pick.

Moreover, the Mavericks could be faced with massive roster turnover again next summer when Chandler Parsons and Dirk both can opt out of the final years of their contracts.

October 18, 2014 · 9:01 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1:Griffin reaching breaking point — Clippers forward Blake Griffin is one of the most athletic and high-flying players in the NBA. And as frequently as he drives hard to the rim, he just as often finds himself at the end of a lot of hard fouls. Thus far, Griffin has managed to take the physicality in stride, keeping a cool head time after time. But after another incident last night in a preseason game against the Utah Jazz, Griffin noted that his patience is reaching its breaking point. Dan Woike of the Orange County-Register has more…

After the game, Griffin was asked if it was difficult to keep things from escalating.

“I was going to (take things further), and I thought, ‘It’s preseason. It’s not worth it. That’s not the person I’m going to waste it on,’” Griffin calmly said.

[Trevor] Booker was called for a flagrant 1 foul, and Griffin, Booker and Chris Paul were all called for technical fouls for their roles in the incident.

After the game, Paul didn’t hide his amazement at picking up a technical, as he said he was trying to play peacemaker.

“That was ridiculous,” he said. “…He gave me a tech. He said it was because I escalated the fight. You can fine me, do whatever. I know Trevor Booker. I’m trying to keep him away. Like, I know him personally. And they give me a tech. It’s preseason. Everyone’s trying to figure it out.”

Griffin admitted to trying to figure out what to do with the extra contact he takes. Following the Clippers win, Doc Rivers said he thought Griffin gets hit with more cheap shots than anyone in the league.

“I don’t think it’s close,” Rivers said.

Griffin, who has been often criticized for his reactions to hard fouls, realizes he’s in a bit of a Catch-22.

“On one hand, everyone tells me to do something. On the other hand, people tell me to not complain and just play ball,” Griffin said with a smile. “That happens. You’re not going to please everybody. I just have to do whatever I think is right and use my judgment.”

***

No. 2:No longball for Lakers — Over the last decade, NBA teams have increasingly noted the importance of the 3-point shot, even designing offenses around the long-range shot. But just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean the Lakers under new coach Byron Scott will do the same. This is not only because the Lakers are currently coping with injuries to perimeter players such as Nick Young and Steve Nash, but it’s more of a philosophy Scott is embracing. Baxter Holmes of ESPN Los Angeles has more:

“You’ve got a lot of teams that just live and die by it,” Scott said after the team’s practice here Friday. “Teams, general managers, coaches, they kind of draft that way to try to space the floor as much as possible. But you have to have shooters like that; you also have to have guys that can penetrate and get to the basket, because that opens up the floor.”

But does Scott believe in that style?

“I don’t believe it wins championships,” he said. “(It) gets you to the playoffs.”

Seven of the last eight NBA champions led all playoff teams in 3-point attempts and makes.

And it’s not as though Scott isn’t familiar with the 3-point shot. During his second season with the Lakers as a player, he led the NBA in 3-point field-goal percentage in 1984-85 (43 percent) and was in the top-10 in that category in three other seasons. Scott also ranked sixth in the NBA in 3-point attempts (179) and ninth in makes (62) during the 1987-88 season.

But are the Lakers’ low 3-point attempts this preseason a reflection of injuries or of how the Lakers will really end up playing this coming season?

“I don’t think that’s an indication of what we’ll be when we’re fully healthy,” Scott said. “I think it will still be 12, 13, 14, 15 (attempts per game), somewhere in that area, when we’re fully healthy.”

***

No. 3:Dwight for MVP? — With Kevin Durant out with a fractured foot, the MVP race doesn’t have a clear leader at the start of the season, at least if you’re eating at our Blogtable. But with all the names being tossed around, former MVP Hakeem Olajuwon says don’t forget about Houston big man Dwight Howard, who by all accounts is healthy and ready to return to the dominant style of play he showed in Orlando. Dwight himself says he’s never felt better. Our own Fran Blinebury has more…

“He’s healthy. He’s strong. He’s ready,” said Olajuwon, who won the award in 1994 when he led the Rockets to the first of their back-to-back championships. “Now it’s about having the attitude to go out every night and dominate.”

The Hall of Famer officially rejoined his former team as a player development specialist after Howard signed a free agent contract with the Rockets in July 2013 and recently concluded his second training camp stint working with the All-Star center before returning to his home in Amman, Jordan. Prior to the start of camp, Olajuwon had not worked with Howard since the end of last season.

“He’s older, more mature and you can tell that he is feeling better physically,” Olajuwon said. “I like what I saw. He is a very hard worker. He takes the job seriously and you can see that he has used some of the things we talked about last season and is making them part of his game.”

Howard averaged 18.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in his first season with the Rockets and Olajuwon thinks the 28-year-old was just scratching the surface as he regained fitness.

“It was a good start, but last year Dwight was still trying to recover from the back surgery and to feel like himself again,” said Olajuwon. “I think a lot of people don’t appreciate what it is like for an athlete to have a back injury. It is serious. It is a challenge.

“I could see last year when I worked with him in camp that there were some things that he could not do. Or they were things that he did not think he could do. The difference now is that he is fit and those doubts are gone. This is the player who can go back to being the best center in the league and the kind of player that can lead his team to a championship. I think he should be dominant at both ends of the floor.”

***

No. 4:Pistons and Celtics make deal — Neither Detroit nor Boston are expected to contend for an Eastern Conference crown this season, but they found themselves able to do business together yesterday. The Pistons moved reserve point guard Will Bynum to Boston in exchange for reserve big man Joel Anthony. According to the Detroit Free Press, the trade clears room for recent draft pick Spencer Dinwiddie.

The first trade of the Stan Van Gundy era wasn’t exactly a blockbuster, but it does give insight into the Detroit Pistons’ thinking as the Oct. 27 deadline for roster finalization looms.

The Pistons today added frontcourt depth by acquiring NBA veteran Joel Anthony from the Boston Celtics in exchange for point guard Will Bynum.

The move signals that the team is comfortable with second-round draft pick Spencer Dinwiddie as the No. 3 point guard as he continues to rehab the left knee injury he suffered in January.

Dinwiddie is progressing nicely and recently took part in 5-on-5 drills for the first time. So Bynum, whose days were numbered when the organization hired Van Gundy as its president and coach, became expendable.

January 15, 2014 · 10:26 PM ET

Big, giant baby steps.

That’s all the Miami Heat can and should expect from Greg Oden now that he’s made his long-awaited return to NBA action as a reserve for the two-time defending champions.

Oden’s dream became a reality Wednesday night in Washington, when the former No. 1 overall pick played his first minutes since 2009. As they say, you cannot coach size. And Oden leaves a huge footprint on the court, even in limited minutes. Oden recorded an offensive rebound, a dunk and personal foul in his first 30 seconds of action. He played 8 minutes and 24 seconds altogether, finishing with six points on 2-for-3 shooting from the floor, 2-for-2 from the free throw line, and grabbed two rebounds in the Heat’s 114-97 blowout loss.

It’s been a long time coming for Oden, who missed what should have been his rookie season with a knee injury and then endured three more microfracture surgeries on his knees.

“He’s been working very diligently,” Spoelstra said of Oden. “It’s been all part of the plan. He’s made great progress. He’s getting stronger. He’s getting healthier. He’s getting his core right. Everything without skipping steps. We’re very patient with him.”

October 20, 2013 · 12:48 PM ET

L

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Chances are good next June that for the second consecutive year, the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft will have honed his skills and built his street cred on the asphalt courts of … Toronto, Ontario. And with Kansas forward Andrew Wiggins as a favourite to take the maple-leaf baton from UNLV’s Anthony Bennett, we might want to refer to the heated jockeying for position among likely lottery teams as tanquing, for this season anyway.

A rising interest in Canada in the NBA is the primary reason behind tonight’s game in Montreal, when the Boston Celtics (with first-round pick Kelly Olynyk, a 7-footer from Kamloops by way of Gonzaga) face the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Bell Centre. A year ago, the NBA staged its first-ever NBA Canada Series preseason games in that country (Knicks-Raptors in Montreal, Pistons-Timberwolves in Winnipeg) and the only thing surprising about that was that it took so long.

The Raptors, obviously, have been playing preseason games there since they entered the league via expansion in 1995. So did their newbie cohort Vancouver Grizzlies for six seasons, until their move to Memphis in 2001.

The NBA’s and basketball’s roots in the nation are undeniable. The man who invented the game in 1891, Dr. James Naismith, was a Canadian, after all. And what is accepted as the NBA’s inaugural game was played at Maple Leaf Gardens between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies, who lasted one season in the precursor BAA.

Sixty-seven years later, the NBA has just the Raptors’ as its single toehold in Canada, and it stages its preseason games there much as it does in exotic lands like Taiwan and Brazil, with a missionary zeal that creates festivals of NBA basketball, stirring casual interest rather than relying on hardcore devotees of the league. The Grizzlies are gone, and expansion even in U.S. cities appears to be low on commissioner David Stern‘s or presumptive replacement Adam Silver‘s lists of priorities.

March 26, 2013 · 11:02 AM ET

ORLANDO — One of the unintended benefits of a team plowing through week after week of a 27-game (and counting) win streak is the collective strain it puts on not just a team’s superstars, but also it’s supporting cast.

And in the case of the Miami Heat, that would be, as All-Star forward Chris Bosh coined it, “the best supporting cast in the business.” Bosh was, of course, speaking about the cast surrounding reigning MVP LeBron James, a group headlined by Dwyane Wade and himself.

But those three superstars have the added benefit of leaning on what has developed into the best cast of veteran, high basketball IQ specailists in the business. From stalwarts like Udonis Haslem, Ray Allen and Shane Batter to Mike Miller and Chris “Birdman” Andersen to Norris Cole and occasionally James Jones or even Joel Anthony, the Heat found ways to tap into their resources at the right time throughout this streak.

It’s a delicate balance, knowing who to go to, and when. But it’s a luxury that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff have cultivated for the past three seasons. And for a team that will need every player to defend their title, this streak and the finish of this regular season could prove to be crucial in ensuring the reserves are ready for that grind.

“They are gaining more and more confidence,” Spoelstra said. “They really are. It doesn’t really matter which group we have out there. They take it to heart that they want to put together good minutes on the scoreboard. Those guys are just stepping up and giving us good minutes.”

Great minutes, actually, in spurts.

Cole scored a season-high 15 points and led seven scorers off the bench in Sunday’s win over Charlotte, the first of two straight games the Heat played without Wade, who sat out with a sore right knee. Cole (3-for-4), Allen (4-for-5) and Battier (2-for-5) lit it up from distance as the Heat used an 11-for-13 barrage from 3-point range to subdue the Bobcats.

Miller started in place of Wade Sunday and played 22 minutes in the win over the Bobcats. That’s the exact same number of minutes he played in the 10 games before that, and looked comfortable doing it. He started again Monday night against Orlando, making three of his six shots from the floor in 20 minutes against the Magic.

He attempted a total of four shots in those 10 games prior to his Bobcats start, but didn’t hesitate Sunday night, uncorking a couple of 3-pointers in the opening minutes of that game.

“My view was to just fill in,” Miller said. “But you can’t be shy. My motto is to let it fly. That helps our team, when our shooters are aggressive it opens up lanes for everybody else.”

Cole, Andersen and ex-Magic All-Star Rashard Lewis (11 points, courtesy of a 3-for-5 shooting effort from long-range) provided the boost the Heat needed to get win No. 27, outscoring the Magic reserves 42-15. The Heat are 26-1 this season when its reserves outscore the opposition’s.

“It’s just knowing your role and knowing what’s needed,” Battier said. “It’s the way we’ve worked all season long and right now it’s the perfect complement to what we’re doing offensively. Our main goal on offense is to create space to allow our best guys the room they need to operate. The only way to do that is to put shooters around them. So when we get the open looks, we have to make shots. It all has to work together.”

Making sure the bench was ready was of critical importance for Spoelstra, though he wouldn’t have forced the issue down the stretch of the regular season. Not with the type of veterans the Heat have.

“They’ve already had a body of work,” he said. “They’ve been called upon at times this year, and they are keeping themselves ready. The most important thing is all the work they’ve been doing behind the scenes. You could whither away on the sidelines by not playing if you didn’t have the right attitude. But our guys come in every single day. They do their conditioning and they also stay in it mentally. They do it every day.”

You win 27 straight games and everybody has to bring it — the superstars and the “best supporting cast in the business.”

June 13, 2012 · 1:05 AM ET

OKLAHOMA CITY — When you’re paying your top three players about $48 million a year, your roster is not going to have a lot of depth. Such is the issue with the Miami Heat.

In Game 7 of the conference finals, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra got away with basically playing just six guys. That was enough to outlast the similarly shallow Boston Celtics.

But the Oklahoma City Thunder are not the Celtics in any shape, form or fashion. They’re younger, faster and deeper. And in Game 1 of The Finals, a 105-94 Thunder victory, Spoelstra couldn’t get away with playing such a short rotation.

Off the bench, the Heat got 34 minutes from Chris Bosh, 10 minutes from Mike Miller, and two minutes from Joel Anthony. Norris Cole and James Jones, who have each been in and out of the rotation in this postseason, did not play. The Heat said afterward that Jones was unavailable because of a migraine.

The lack of depth appeared to play a part in the Heat’s demise on Tuesday. After outscoring the Thunder 29-22 in the first quarter, Miami trended down. The second quarter was even. Oklahoma City won the third quarter by eight and the fourth quarter by 10, as the Heat seemingly ran out of gas.